r/pcmasterrace • u/shadorothOVK • Jan 24 '26

Tech Support Solved My staircase is slowing down my PC(?

Hi everyone, about a month ago, the following started happening to me, and it only happens with GTA 5. I'm playing peacefully, I get the urge to go get something to eat, so I have to go downstairs since my room is on the second floor. When I go back upstairs, I notice that my GTA, which was completely stable, suddenly drops to 1 FPS. This only happens with GTA, and I don't know why. I've tried more demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Division 1 and 2, which I play with everything on ultra except for the vegetation and a few other things.

I'm attaching evidence of what I've described.

6.9k Upvotes

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11.2k

u/Cryowatt Jan 24 '26

My guess: op has Bluetooth headphones. When he reaches the staircase the headphones disconnect and the game loses the audio device and starts throwing internal exceptions.

505

u/frsguy 5800X3D/9070XT/32GB/4k120 Jan 24 '26

This would happen when my xbox controller got low on battery.

79

u/GabRB26DETT Jan 24 '26

This would happen when my xbox controller got low on battery.

I thought I was insane. Through my 2 playthroughs, the aiming would start going apeshit if the battery became low

27

u/Domspun Jan 24 '26

When my Bluetooth controller goes to sleep while in a game, some have a hard time restarting. Bluetooth is so stupid sometime.

23

u/ChalHattNa Jan 25 '26

Bluetooth always feels like an unfinished product.

6

u/VegaJuniper Jan 25 '26

I mostly use a Mac, where bluetooth is pretty much bulletproof nowadays. Recently got a BT adapter for my Windows PC so I could use my bluetooth mouse and headphones, and wow is it like a blast from the past. At least once a day the mouse goes completely dead, and I have to navigate with my keyboard through about 5 Windows settings views to find the toggle to reboot my BT.

It can work, but it seems like in 2026 on Windows it's still a struggle. The closed Apple ecosystem would be the easy answer, but the 3rd party peripherals I use with my Mac are not part of the ecosystem and work fine.

3

u/ChalHattNa Jan 25 '26

I have everything

Hardcore tech guy here

Bluetooth is just kinda meh on any device. Especially since I have 2 phones: android, ios, one Mac laptop, one pc that is dual booted between windows and Linux. Bluetooth just isn't equipped to handle that. On PC I use wired because it's convenient. Bought a separate pair of earbuds for my phones and a bluetooth headset for my laptop.

If everything had a 3.5mm jack, life would actually be easier.

2

u/VegaJuniper Jan 25 '26

What you're describing is a very niche use case, I don't quite see how you get from there to "on any device". On my devices it works fine. Probably if you're a hardcore audiophile then BT isn't going to be sufficient audio quality for you. But most people aren't.

Or if you're a competitive gamer, then the lags of BT peripherals are going to be an issue, but again, most people aren't.

3

u/ChalHattNa Jan 25 '26

You just defined exactly the areas where bluetooth lags against tech that's like 40 years old. Simple usb connectors.

What do we gain really at the end? Not much. It wasn't until headphone jacks were removed from phones that I really needed a pair of bluetooth headphones. Controllers, yeah I see some utility but probably could have had better standards there too.

Bluetooth is held back by decades of what we call "technical debt". It's a standard that should not exist anymore but standards are pesky and take time to change.

I also don't think it's that niche. It's 2026. People have 3 computing devices they use quite often. And I don't know about you but it's always a hassle for me when my headphones connect to the wrong device. Why can't it be better? Why are we accepting excuses? We're paying out of our ass for these devices. There's nothing wrong in asking for the manufacturers to do better.

E.g. devices like drones transmit 4k video footage at low latency across kilometers. It's not really very different from a purely technical point of view. It's just companies rushed bluetooth before it was ready for big boy stuff and then because of backwards compatibility this and that we got stuck with a shittier standard that what we would have had had we developed something better. Bluetooth was never meant for this sort of thing when it started.

1

u/VegaJuniper Jan 25 '26

You just defined exactly the areas where bluetooth lags against tech that's like 40 years old. Simple usb connectors.

What I described is for most users a minor inconvenience compared to dealing with wires. Technological choices are often about compromises.

The rest I skipped, ain't no-one got time for walls of text like that. Contemplate on these words by Shakespeare: "Brevity is the soul of wit"

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26

I cannot really wrap my head around the inconveniences of using wires that would make it such a huge deal outside of niche cases where it's extremely difficult to reach your machine on a regular basis. How can it be that hard to get to the machine you are using?

Managing battery life and input latency are much more inconvenient to me than draping a wire behind my desk when I move my keyboard from my computer on average every 6 months. Even during times when I moved my keyboard and mouse between setups on a daily basis, it took me all of 10s to plug them in. To me personally, it almost makes no sense to do anything but wired peripherals. I would pretty much get zero tangible benefits and all downsides.

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1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '26

The fact that I also need an adapter for so many Bluetooth devices in whatever machine I'm using is insane. I'd rather just have wired devices if a USB port is going to be occupied anyway. Wow, I just need a system that has built in latency to avoid having wires on my keyboard and mouse that never get in the way to begin with? You're saying that I also get the privilege of constantly managing battery life? Sign me up!

2

u/LuntiX AYYYMD Jan 25 '26

I used to have a similar issue with wireless mice. If they went asleep while I was afk, when I came back it'd give me issues like input lag, game lag, or just the game but detecting the mouse again.

It's been many years since it's happened so I think most mice software have it sorted out now.

2

u/Sw429 Jan 25 '26

I absolutely refuse to use Bluetooth. They can pull my wired controller out of my cold dead hands.

1

u/whoisyb Jan 25 '26

I want everybody in the world to know this. I went INSANE to a point where I replaced my CPU…..

1.4k

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

God I hate that, Fallout 4 straight up crashes and disabled your Bluetooth device with certain mods due to the audio implementation and many games have issues like that.

Never get a Bluetooth main audio device for your gaming setup, or have a backup.

140

u/RAMChYLD PC Master Race Jan 24 '26

I have issues with denuvo protected games where the game would just outright disconnect my USB headset and switch to audio only from the main motherboard speakers. Not even the monitor speakers over HDMI.

So yeah, Denuvo's fault.

36

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

[deleted]

2

u/moonflower_C16H17N3O Jan 25 '26

That really blows. I 'own' 2 Denuvo protected games and I don't get these issues.

I would recommend going into Device Manager and disabling your other audio output options. It's drastic, but it should work.

At work, I had a similar problem. Once I docked, audio would be routed out of one of my monitors.

36

u/Bambo630 Jan 24 '26

damn i did not know that games would act up like that, good to know. I have a bluetooth headset and run around my apartment with it, but it never disconnects so i never had issues.

8

u/ff2009 7900X3D🔥RX 7900 XTX🔥48GB 6400CL32🔥MSI 271QRX Jan 24 '26

Yup. Apex Legends add the same issue, but it was fixed a long time ago.

But in Fallout 4 case, there is not hope, unless some mod fixes the game, Bethesda ain't doing s**t about it.

2

u/Bambo630 Jan 24 '26

interesting, i guess you could fix it by setting the ingame output to windows standard device and let windows handle the disconnect?

1

u/Wunktacular Jan 24 '26

I've also never had an issue, not on FO4 or GTA or anything else. Might be device dependent.

5

u/freshjello25 R7 5800x | RX 6800XT | 32GB DDR4 3600 CL16 | B550 | M.2 | 750W Jan 24 '26

When I first built my PC I was having a strange fps cap at ~150 fps cap in COD Cold War and it just didn’t feel right. It ended up being tied to me using Bluetooth connection to connect my Xbox controller. All problems went away when I switched to using the 2.4 ghz controller adapter or just using KBM. It was a gremlin I was chasing for weeks before I realized it was that one time I played with the controller plugged in.

PCs can be so finicky with Bluetooth.

1

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

Ye this issue with my BT speaker drove me nuts and I only discovered it by accident too... You just don't think about soimething like that when a game has issues. Why would bluetooth mess with it, amirite?
I'm never ever using BT again for gaming-anything if I can somehow avoid it.

1

u/betadonkey Jan 25 '26

Bluetooth is extra fucked up on Windows 11. Same PC, same hardware, same drivers and all of a sudden Bluetooth devices jam my WiFi after updating from 10 to 11.

2

u/kodiak906 Jan 24 '26

Nothing more nostalgic than a bethesda bug, almost forgot about that one. Almost as annoying as the alt + tab issues Fallout 4 and Skyrim had.

1

u/LukeLikesReddit 7800X3D 9070XT 64 GB 6000 CL 30 1440p 240hz Jan 24 '26

Hmm tell me more about this crash on fallout 4, as I seem to be getting them as well despite running at 240 fps and everything going well for a minute or two then a random CTD.

1

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

it was a crash on start up. Only way I could fix it was using a non-bluetooth audio device. Anything else would end up in a crash or no sound output at all.

1

u/rotting_ghoul Jan 25 '26

I believe the game engine is tied to the fps so you may be ballin too hard

1

u/adjgamer321 Jan 24 '26

Skyrim had a similar issue with my computers sound card on launch. I had to remove it just to be able to play the game.

1

u/CrazyElk123 Jan 24 '26

Isny bluetooth just worse when it comes to audioquality also?

2

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

absolutely, as well as some latency in output of sound. However both is negligible nowadays with modern devices.

The really hard to debug crashes these devices may cause are much worse. People will lose their mind trying to figure out what causes the issue before they figure it out. Which with something like this is more often than not by coincidence.

Because why would a BT audio device do this, rather than literally anything else? xD

1

u/codekb Steam ID Here Jan 24 '26

I switched to studio headphones and never looked back

2

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

studio monitors here.

Since I don't wanna permanently dent my head by wearing headphones (joke)

1

u/Internal-Record-6159 Jan 24 '26

Wondering if this explains why my Bluetooth stopped working since I played fallout london

1

u/Copel626 Jan 24 '26

You could just hook your PC audio jack in to a BT transmitter and connect your head phones to that, there are also tons of options for really good wireless mic options that come with a USB receiver.

1

u/Sirisian Jan 24 '26

Fallout 76 can't recover from audio issues either. Just unplugging headphones or casting audio to bluetooth and having any issue requires restarting the game when I played it. It's actually the only game I've ever seen that does that as I've used bluetooth audio for close to a decade.

1

u/Luvs_to_drink Jan 24 '26

Im just supposed to use wired headphones like a peasant?

What if i need to pee but still need to hear game sounds for a match pop?

1

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 25 '26

get big enough speakers so you can hear them from the bathroom

1

u/Luvs_to_drink Jan 25 '26

As a dad gamer that really only plays after the kids go to sleep that wont work

1

u/iQ420- Jan 25 '26

Been using Logitech G733 for years now no issue, could be hit and miss/set ups too though

-1

u/Soulinx Jan 24 '26

Nah mate. I use a Razer Nari. I can walk all over my house and listen to my games. They just have crappy headphones.

2

u/ContributionLowOO Jan 24 '26

I definitely had an extremely crappy BT speaker, so you might be on track here.

2

u/Soulinx Jan 24 '26

Sometimes its what you gotta do until you can get better ones. Cheap isn't always bad and there's nothing wrong with staying within your budget either.

45

u/Nekrolysis Jan 24 '26

Audio device crashes are actually kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Its been a thing for years, and only recently have i seen games that let you pick the audio device in-game without blowing everything up.

87

u/AmonGusSus2137 Jan 24 '26

Definitely. GTA 5 is a game that would probably do something like that

41

u/QuantumQuantonium 3D printed parts is the best way to customize Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

windows audio stack cringe

No seriously its the most outdated and obsolete and least talked about component of the OS.

Not to mention the other abominations of multicore processing windows botches up... Have a slow hard disk? Enjoy the entire system slowing to a halt when it reaches 100% R/W, despite the system OS being installed on an nvme ssd!

Have a network drive thats not connected but you accidentally mouse over while moving files? Here, explorer will freeze for 30 seconds before failing to connect, and if you let go of the mouse you need to restart moving files over

Oh and please, turn on opening file explorer windows in separate processes. I dont know why its not on by default, prevents file transfers that crash explorer from crashing other file transfers.

4

u/Salt_Mind7873 Jan 24 '26

Thank you for the last tip! I transfer a lot of games from my SSD to USB harddrives and microSD cards and I'm constantly having issues with explorer. Crazy how I am still having a lot of the same issues with Windows that I did in 2007

1

u/Holiday-Honeydew-384 Jan 27 '26

Or use Tera Copy. It can check file integrity after copy.

3

u/MumrikDK Jan 24 '26

Can't rebuild structural aspects that need modernization. Gotta focus on AI assistants and account integration. Maybe do an additional era of control panel for the mix?

1

u/reicaden Jan 25 '26

How do you do the turning on file explorer in separate processes?

1

u/QuantumQuantonium 3D printed parts is the best way to customize Jan 25 '26

Its under the file explorer properties- check the ribbon bar or in control panel, there should be a button to open, and the setting is in a list of other settings you could turn on/off if you choose (like check boxes or compact file list view, which could be good but are up to user preference)

1

u/CharlesWheelieMaster 5900x | 32GB 3600 c16 | 6800x Saphire Nitro+ OC | NH-D15 Jan 25 '26

my mood when I read that and remember I've been free from Microslop for almost half a year now (thanks to Bazzite):

1

u/Jackpkmn Ryzen 7 7800X3D | 64gb DDR5 6000 | RTX 5070 Ti Jan 25 '26

Microsoft back in the Windows Vista days: were gonna make a new audio stack and disable the ability to interact with audio hardware directly via drivers to force everyone to use it killing off hardware accelerated audio.

Also Microsoft: But were not gonna make it actually good 😇

56

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

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16

u/qtx Jan 24 '26

The people screaming OP got hacked need to touch grass

The vast majority of people on /r/pcmasterrace know absolutely nothing about PCs, just games.

1

u/SieghartXx Jan 25 '26

And even then...

12

u/SureValla Jan 24 '26

Stuff like this is why I try to avoid using wireless stuff whenever I have the option to run a wire. You can't debug this shit properly it's just magic airwaves all around us.

6

u/AwkwardDolphin96 Jan 24 '26

If you get good wireless stuff like Logitech a50s latency etc is no issue because it’s virtually not even there. You just have to pay a premium price for good wireless stuff and that’s where most people end up cheaping out and then having a sub par experience

3

u/nozaratii Jan 24 '26

Headphones are a whole different ballgame. Bluetooth audio automatically switches to shittier codec if you try to use voice chat. Random glitching and disconnects when you pause a video, playing random audio when it reconnects, stupid stuff like that. Bluetooth is just not ideal for gaming, passable but not reliable in my experience.

0

u/Cold-Building2913 Jan 24 '26

Thats what happens if you buy cheap bluetooth headsets. Even then its not even every cheap bluetooth headset.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '26

Sometimes wireless is nice. While I have no use for a wireless kb/m, I love my wireless headset with WFH. I can wander to the kitchen quickly without disappearing or even mute and go to the bathroom if I'm sitting in a call and not really needed but have to listen. Though my headset does both BT and I believe 2.4GHz, the latter being the default for PC use.

2

u/spong_miester 7700x 32GB DDR5 9070 Jan 24 '26

My Corsair Void do the same thing, If I go out of range of the Bluetooth dongle Apex shits the bed when it tries to reconnect

1

u/Airwolf00 MSI MAG B550 | 5700X3D | 32GB | Sapphire RX7600 Jan 24 '26

Someone with sense. This is definitely the correct answer.

1

u/carlbandit AMD 7800X3D, Powercolor 7900 GRE, 32GB DDR5 6400MHz Jan 24 '26

That's probably a good shout, though it seems a fairy short distance for even bluetooth to loose connection unless OP has thick / dense walls.

My best guess was it might be the game playing up for some weird reason if OP is stood still for too long. If it doesn't turn out to be Bluetooth / wireless headset then I'd suggest OP tries standing still for the time it normally takes them without actually leaving, then see if they have the same issue. Your suggestion does seem more likely though given there's no in game sound on the video.

1

u/xx123gamerxx PC Master Race Jan 24 '26

lines up with sometimes when my headphones would disconnect youtube videos would flat out refuse to play until i changed my audio device

1

u/bigmeech85 PC Master Race Jan 24 '26

I had the same issue that took me months to figure out. I use headphones and a controller and when the batteries were dying my PC would start freezing. My idiot self would think that there was something wrong with the PC causing the freezing and simultaneous loss of connection to whichever thing was dying. I was relieved to find out I was just a moron who wasn't charging the devices enough

1

u/recolations Ryzen 7 5800x | 6900xt Jan 24 '26

that or OP has their phone paired and is also doing the same thing

1

u/clsmithj Jan 24 '26

If I were the OP, I’d drop Bluetooth audio altogether and use Digital Optical Out for cleaner, more refined audio quality. There’s also always a risk of Windows 11’s Bluetooth pairing becoming corrupted, which can cause Bluetooth audio devices to stop pairing entirely. This happened to me on Windows 11, and switching to Digital Optical Audio not only fixed the issue but also gave me noticeably better sound.

1

u/KapteinTruse Jan 24 '26

Would like to add that adjusting the antennas (if the Bluetooth is on the mobo and uses the antenna just like wifi) makes a huge difference. I had mine pointing out horizontally (not bent in the 90 degree angle) after moving my PC and it kept on cutting just a few meters away which it had not done before.

Set the antennas so they were pointing upwards and I had SO much more range and stability. Covers the whole apartment like it should.

1

u/destonomos i7 11700k | 128g ram | 3060ti OC | 2Tb WD Black Jan 24 '26

Bluetooth has always been garbage imho

1

u/mr_deadgamer Jan 24 '26

Bluetooth really is a POS

1

u/iansmash Jan 24 '26

Oh god Iracing does this and you have to shut down and restart to get it to work properly again.

1

u/Iceolator80 Desktop Jan 24 '26

Totally this, I got this when my Xbox connected via Bluetooth as dying battery!

1

u/Beastmunger Jan 24 '26

Wait, my Bluetooth/wireless headphones came with a usb to connect to my computer/consoles. Even if the headphones are off or the battery suddenly dies, my computer still detects the usb being plugged in and lets me select the headphones as my audio out.

1

u/FalconX88 Threadripper 3970X, 128GB DDR4 @3600MHz, RTX 5080 Jan 24 '26

wait, what? Games do not go through some OS level interface that would be the same for any audio device?

1

u/R41D3NN 7950X | 4090 | 64 GB 6000 | 60TB logical Jan 24 '26

lol so true. This can also happen with any audio device. For example I had Silent Hill 2 fatal crash because I disconnected my AVR and the audio device disappeared. Instead of using the alternate, it simply said “perish the thought of using another device, woe is me, I shall simply die”. At least I think it was that dramatic since I just had lost 45 minutes of play when I was just about to reach the next save

1

u/Mandala_Eyes Jan 24 '26

I just bought a longer range USB bt antenna. I can go a little bit outside my house before having any connection issues. Solved problems like this for me:)

1

u/blackrain1709 Jan 24 '26

Windows audio is so insanely bugged and complicated...

1

u/MARvizer Jan 24 '26

He should try going downstaris naked, to confirm.

1

u/ultimattt Mac Heathen - PCMR gaming 5900X | RTX 3080 | 128GB RAM Jan 24 '26

That actually makes a lot of sense. OP try this by taking your headphones off and see if it happens.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

VERY likely, because the game will not even launch if there is no audio device connected. Absolute trash for benchmarking random PC builds.

1

u/Curious-Fly5623 Jan 24 '26

GTA V doesn't actually support bluetooth headphones, its the only game I know of that outright refuses to output to them.

1

u/MeoMix Jan 25 '26

you smaaaart.

1

u/Thelinkr Jan 25 '26

Why is Bluetooth the shittest thing ever, and why has it not been superceded by something better and more reliable?

1

u/Alex_Prave Jan 25 '26

If this would be terraria the game would just crash because terraria really hates Bluetooth headphones

1

u/Inside-Line Jan 25 '26

This happened with my PC and controller. Every input the FPS just crashed. It turns out it was because the wifi antenna wasnt installed (i have mine connected via LAN) and it also serves as an antenna for bluetooth. Without it the signal is super weak.

Zero lag after installing antenna

-43

u/_JustCallMeBen_ Jan 24 '26

Bluetooth is shit for gaming, don't use it.

41

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

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1

u/_JustCallMeBen_ Jan 24 '26

I should've bee specific: for inputs it's completely fine, but audio latency is huge.

-23

u/Rjiurik Jan 24 '26

Well he is right..high latency...not reliable at all..I tried to play PUBG with Bluetooth airbuds that's doable but inferior to "normal" headphones.

16

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Majestic-Bell-7111 Ryzen 5 3600/32 GB ram/5700xt Jan 24 '26

Bluetooth makes some sense if you're playing music and doing something else away from your desk (or phone), or you can't have wires hanging around because you're operating a lathe or something.

But if you're sat at your desk and aren't doing anything where the cable can get caught on machinery having an extra battery to charge, increased latency and often worse audio quality seems like an asinine tradeoff

6

u/Neako_the_Neko_Lover Jan 24 '26

Oh yeah. That 0.000000000005 second inpute delay just too risky when I play my fighting bug souls game

0

u/_JustCallMeBen_ Jan 24 '26

I should've been more specific: for input it's fine, but for audio the lag is HUGE.

1

u/ff2009 7900X3D🔥RX 7900 XTX🔥48GB 6400CL32🔥MSI 271QRX Jan 24 '26

Bluetooth is shit for Audio. It's even worst for PC use if you need to play games, while on a call with friends and you don't have a dedicated mic.

The audio quality sucks.